Kurz Hase
by Arkytal
Summary: A prequel to Summer Wars that focuses on the evolution of the relationship between Kazuma and Kazma (the character list spells it incorrectly), and how exactly they became renowned on the competition circuit.
1. i

Kurz Hase

**A/N: Hello, first new story in quite a while, and returning to my old naming scheme as well. Those familiar with it will get a small laugh out of it, in any case. This will not follow strict Summer Wars canon, at least concerning the prequel manga.**

The robotic voice telling me where to go and how to access the basic functions of Oz seemed slightly redundant. As I am tied to my creator, and he is intelligent enough to have created a completely custom model, animation set, and gait for myself, I doubt that he needs to be taught how to interact with others in Oz , or how to access the chat channels in the main hub.

Not that he'd use them in the first place.

Here I sit, in the 'home' space that has been constructed by my creator as anything he could possibly desire. It is a unique place, reeking of the pressure to prove oneself, and flushing out of any perceived weakness. I am not sure what my creator is like, for he has not communicated with me as of yet, but I must assume that he doesn't like to lose.

All along the walls of the decently sized, dimly lit room, were championship trophies for real and imagined sports, all bearing the same pair of names. Kazuma/Kazma. As such, I believe the name he has chosen for me to be Kazma. Rather fitting, I do believe. It is a contraction of my creator's name, detailing our similarities, while also keeping us apart.

These trophies are complemented by all manner of computers and technology coating what wall and floor space is not taken up by a large bed, several oversized speakers, and an occasional light hanging from the ceiling.

From my initial inspection of these machines after I woke up here, they are not terminals that access a specific portion of the Oz network, as most computers encountered in Oz are, or so I'm told. These are catalogs of information concerning the development of advanced simulations merging passively with the infrastructure of Oz. This is a highly complicated subject, one that I doubt a creator of the age mine is would be able to comprehend and understand to an extent that would give practicality under any circumstances.

I say this, as my creator is no older than eleven years old, as I am unaware of what date his birthday falls on, but I am aware of his year of birth.

The subject that most of these documents relates to is Oz netgames, and how to maintain the lowest possibly network latency, despite the sometimes enormous distances between combatants. This ensured that every match played would be fair, and that it would have nothing to do with the network, on which side lost. This was important, as it maintained the fairness that was paramount in such events.

I have been studying the world outside from within. I am not being held here against my will, but rather I find an odd sense that I'd be unwilling to leave if he were not in contact with me.

He lives in the nation of Japan, and it is currently mid-morning there. I have been in existence for roughly nine hours, and already, I can recognize my creator's habits. He is by no means a morning person, and may very well have no rigid schedule of rest, only taking the time to do so when he becomes sufficiently fatigued. This is would not be perceived as negligence on his part, or on his family; I have contemplated on the existence of a mental bond between us, as often exists between a personalized avatar and their owner, but as of yet I feel nothing of the sort.

Perhaps it develops over a longer duration than a few hours, most of which he has most likely been unconscious for.

I also have a deep, unsettling feeling that I am one of few of his companions.

Out of all of my self-analysis and examination, the only factors which I can take as being unusual, on the Oz side of the matter, is why exactly I'm in the form of a stylized hare. It will be the only form I will ever know, and there is no one who will look down on me for it, but I will always wonder why.

My ponderings eventually brought me to a state of mental exhaustion, after which I climbed onto the ornamental bed, chuckling to myself that I was an artificial intelligence inside a global network taking on a series of calculations that would trick my virtual consciousness into believing it was experiencing sleep.

When I 'awoke', as I was really only in a catatonic state while my processing node was overloaded with time-sensitive computations, I found myself on the same bed, but there was an addition to the room. It was a doorway, at the end of which was a light.

The light did not interest me just yet, as I had a flash on inspiration on how Oz avatars 'slept'. When our 'conscious' variable was defaulted to 0, it indicated we were awake. When it was changed to 1, the processing nodes that are used in computing an avatar's functions would retain only the physical location of the avatar within Oz, and use the remaining available processing power to remove some of the load that was usually taxing the regional Oz servers.

This was also how Oz was kept running smoothly; every sleeping avatar was being used to upkeep the sheer processing ability of itself.

I thought it was extremely fascinating, and before I could question how I was showing emotions on a topic that correlated to a system that I myself only existed as a virtual manifestation of a person inside, I heard a voice in my head, gruff and clipped.

Ah, my creator has finally shown himself. The watch on the wall, whose hands were outdated RAM modules, showed six in the evening, giving some credit to my theory on the boy's sleep schedule, or rather, the lack thereof.

'Keeping yourself busy, huh?' So cynical. I have, thanks much. I'm trying to avoid thinking about subjects that would remind me that I was created for your own personal purposes, and that I am nothing but a set of electronic stimuli working in tandem to replicate an advanced neural interface that would consist of the same level of complexity as the human brain.

'...You're not doing a very good job at that, then. I wanted to be more positive, so it was suggested by a friend to make an Oz avatar, but I think I messed up. You're too...aware?' Is it so hard to be aware of a fact that sits squarely in front of my face, for the small amount of time during which I have been extant?

'...Stop that, I didn't want something that would make me feel even worse about myself than usual.'

Okay, then how about we talk about something that you might have the upper hand on. For example, these terminals that are absolutely filled to the brim with content regarding Oz netgames.

Aaaaaand now he's all flustered.

'I...I...I-I-I-I'm just interested in them, that's all!' You seem to be forgetting about the trophies generated throughout this room. You've fantasized about it, that much is clear.

'...'

'...I'm not good enough to play in them...at all.' Quickly sectioning off a section of my thoughts so he would not be able to hear them, I said the following to myself exclusively: My word, your self esteem makes me look like a knight in shining-oh.

Oooooh, that makes so much more sense. This is going to be interesting.

**A/N: I would appreciate a review of any kind, as it helps point out strengths and weaknesses that I may not be able to identify myself.**


	2. ii

Kurz Hase

ii

Avatar Kazma = new Avatar(string Demeanor, boolean Voice, boolean Mirror, string Strength, int Mood, float Happiness, single Sanity, string Personality, string Kindness);

He doesn't go to school. Well, not in the physical, 'get up, leave the house, interact with other people face-to-face' sense of school, which I've come to discover is the norm in the world.

He used to, sure, but after having had enough of dealing with people, his family pulled him out of school, in addition to having been at his own behest. He completes his work on the network, and is ahead of his peers in school academically, if the numbers that come from his saved work in the space I'm presiding are any indication.

That's not to say he's suffering due expressly to this, though. He is actually at an advantage compared to those in the same age group as himself, so to speak. His classes are all taken on Oz, at his own pace, meaning he is currently studying content that is several grade levels above what his former classmates are busying themselves with.

Attempting to cover up the reason for his departure from a physical school would be useless. To put it simply, he was bullied to no end. He couldn't escape from it, and no governing bodies would recognize it, so the decision was made to withdraw him from the school system and enroll him into classes that were not only separating him away from those that made his physical existence a meager and miserable one, but also allowed him to display his highly calculating mind, and this has shown with his excellent scores on such tests of knowledge.

As my 'house' so to speak, is connected with the local Oz network, I can see what information pases through the system, and seeing him score nearly perfect scores on high school English exams and trigonometry coursework is simply astounding. My master is truly a unique person, and I can only hope he reaches a point where he can share his gifts with the world. Maybe this will never happen, because I can understand how much of an effect that psychological trauma can have on the burgeoning young minds of the human race...though my understanding is only that which is given to me through the almost shared consciousness that it seems all Avatars can willingly share or deny with others.

Currently, I'm watching the session of his martial arts training with his grandfather. He lives on the coast, but still gets up early to give my master morning lessons before setting off for the day in his fishing boat.

The graceful, serene moves being almost perfectly synced on both ends, no doubt actually in time, and only thrown off by the rare one or two milliseconds it takes for the image to get from one end of the country to the other, update, and be sent back.

I'm just sitting crosslegged on the bed, watching as they go back and forth through their motions, watching with a careful eye. I know the motion well, having seen it several times now, once a day, and having accidentally become a patron to the art. I was bored at first, just watching them, so I had decided to emulate their motions, if only to stave off the boredom until my master returned to his computer, and I could accompany him in whatever he did on it.

During my first time attempting this, I discovered something I thought was rather interesting for an entity that has no basis in the physical world.

It hurt. As in, when I attempted to bring my leg up to the point where they were holding it, I felt pain and could not do so, and my leg shuddered and spasmed.

That's when I learned that Oz avatars, just like real humans, can improve and degenerate their physical condition, but due to the limited amount of use I was to my master, I was eager to improve in any way, to be of more use to him, so I continued with the training. I even researched other ways to improve outside of the lessons his grandfather gave him, learning to stretch and warm up before and after sessions, and making sure to be as flexible as possible.

As such, I became a much more active patron of Oz as simply myself, the avatar, instead of my master using me to navigate the infinite wonders within, as himself.

I soon became a daily member of a class that was focused on maximising the range of motion in humanoid avatars, and ironically enough, it was taught by an avatar that did not have a humanoid form.

It did not matter, which was a relief, because it was only the instructions themselves that were needed. We all sat together in a large circle, arranged so that everyone could see and hear her, and followed her instructions. By far the most grueling part of this was the Lotus position. My feet are rather disproportionate, so in the end, I had to settle with them sticking out at awkward angles while sitting in said position.

Past that little snag, I've become quite lithe and able, as far as avatars go. This is highly situational, however, due to the way that anyone who owns real estate in Oz can affect how anything within can move. Most spaces are 'free spaces', or rather, the movement options are not limited or constrained, so that the avatars and their owners can determine how they want to move about. Flying, walking, taking public transportation to other hub areas, all are common, and I have made it a habit to leave myself in a 'realistic' preset. This means that all forces of gravity and inertia apply to me, which means moving will keep me in the condition I am currently, it also means that I'll be 'limited' in where I can go while using that preset.

Ah, my master is finished with his lesson, and now he is back on the computer. The fact that his commands aren't as rapid, and puncuated by a crunching sound from his mic, indicates that he's eating. He only eats twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the mid-afternoon. He's quite thin, but not deathly so, and I guess he's just at an age where getting him to eat anything is a godsend, so I've never tried to make it an issue when he syncs with me to explore Oz at his own pace.

He has posed questions to me about my improved physical condition, and seemed surprised to discover that I was advancing from just what he does, but he also seemed very curious about it, and perhaps...excited?

After clarifying my actions, he removed a block from me that would disallow me from leaving the regional Oz hubs, allowing me to travel to any in the world. He cited the reason being that I was more deft in collecting experiences from those around me, and that while he wanted to see the world of Oz, he had neither the time nor the dedication to do so.

However, I know this to be more of a conflict of interest. He uses Oz mainly to learn about things and watch visual material pertaining to his academic studies, which doesn't exactly interest me. He knows I've been out and about, and he's listened...read, all of my stories intently, so he's just throwing me a bone to please both myself and him. I'm excited about the opportunity, however, as I've heard from some Oz users and their avatars that the European continent is home to several Oz maps that are akin to entire cities filled with physical obstacle courses.

First created by a Frenchman as mindset about efficient movement, parkour has exploded in popularity on Oz, using real-world physics and open environments in which avatars can run throughout freely, setting up our own little challenges to get from one point to another in creative and quick fashions.

Only a few parkour maps exist in the Japanese hubs, and while I find the environment there to be friendly and comfortable, it's not a lie when I say I want to see the world and all it has to offer...which must make me a lot different from my master, I guess.

I don't want to abuse the ability just yet, so I've only thus far headed to locales close to Japan, my current favorite being a hub in Seoul that's full of dance clubs and good music.

That being said, I plan on heading to a hub located in Hamburg, Germany soon. No doubt it will be an interesting day, either way, though I'm less than confident in my abilities.

I wonder if an anthropomorphic rabbit wearing goggles and sweatpants is out of the ordinary there? Something tells me it's not...


End file.
